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Items by lcornelius

Marine Aquariums of South Africa

• 

  Fragging branching Hammer Coral

  Posted: April 8th, 2012, 5:55pm CDT by LCornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I need to frag my branching hammer coral tomorrow.
  I have never fragged anything in my life!
  
  Can someone please help with some pointers?
  What tools do I need? where do I make the cut?
• 

  Quarantine / Mixing station

  Posted: April 3rd, 2012, 9:49pm CDT by LCornelius

  Some of you might know of my disaster losing all my fish due to a mix of misfortune.
  
  I have decided to take the lesson home and first fix my mistakes rather than give up.
  
  Here are take one on my QT / Mixing station:
  
  
  I'm going to follow the bucket method as explained by @RiaanP
  
  So at the bottom I have 2 JoJo 260L drums and a SICCE M5800 pump to move the water to where I need it. The bottom will also contain some electronics and my R.O Unit. The Salt Mix drum will have heaters and power heads to move the water around, will use the SICCE pump to mix the salt then switch to power heads.
  
  I will also use the SICCE pump to send water to my 2 QT's and DT.
  
  I will also use a 1 micron filter (not in pic) to transfer water between the 2 QT's.
  
  On top of the QT's I can setup either a frag tank or another bigger final QT with a frag tank.
  
  The QT's will be glass tanks, but will be able to remove them with ease for cleaning.
  
  So what do you all think of my plans?
• 

  Frogspawn

  Posted: March 20th, 2012, 8:56pm CDT by lcornelius

  Looking for a nice size frogspawn please!
• 

  650 x 650 Cubie

  Posted: January 29th, 2012, 9:08am CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  Since I shut my 900 cube I have been having salt water withdrawal symptoms.
  My fish and corals went to Frans for a long holiday in Hermanus.
  
  I’m still looking for a house to buy, so the monster tank is not up yet.
  My wife and daughter areq missing our fish, so I decided to setup my 650 x 650 cube that will end up being a QT at a later stage.
  
  The tank will be run without a sump, will do 20% water changes weekly with lots of bacteria dosing.
  
  For now I will run one Tunze 6105 in the tank with a HOB skimmer. Lights is still a big surprise, so you will have to wait!
  
  Picture of the stand being built by my dad:
  
  
  
  Picture of the stand done
  
  
  
  Picture of tank ready to be filled:
  
  
  
  
  Time Line:
  
  13:00 collected 200L water at 2 oceans aquarium
  15:30 start stand build
  20:00 transport stand and tank to my house
  21:00 wash sand
  22:00 start to fill the tank
  23:00 found a leak in the overflow :(
  00:00 installed heater and small flow pump.
  
  I will seal the overflow again today and see if I can compete the fill tomorrow evening.
  
  Going to visit Perky Pets this morning to buy some LR so I can get this baby rocking!
  
  Will post some more later today!
• 

  Tank Design for wave box

  Posted: January 22nd, 2012, 12:49pm CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I need your input on the following:
  
  Tank will be 2000 x 1000 x 750 (water level at 700).
  I will be running 2 Tunze 6105's in the tank, but would like to add a Tunze wave box as well. I would like to create a wave effect in the tank.
  
  The tank will be braced at the top.
  
  The question would be on glass thickness, can I use 12mm or should I use 15mm or even thicker glass? I need to make sure the glass can handle the stress of the wave effect.
• 

  Remote Engine Room

  Posted: January 18th, 2012, 2:39pm CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  If you want to run a remote engine room, but can't gravity feed your sump from the tank. How do you get the water from your DT to your engine room?
• 

  Connecting Bubble Blaster to DNW250 skimmer

  Posted: December 21st, 2011, 6:19pm CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I just bought a Bubble Blaster HY1000s from @mandarinman
  I need to figure out how to plumb it into the DNW250.
  
  First option and the easy option is to make the skimmer a internal skimmer.
  I would like to keep it a external, so my question is how do I get around the air intake nozzel in pic 3?
  
  Here is a pic of the skimmer:
  
  
  
  
  Here is a pic of the Blaster without the nozzel:
  
  
  
  
  Here is a pic of the Blaster with the nozzel:
  
  
• 

  Marine Aquarium spares you keep

  Posted: December 16th, 2011, 10:53am CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  Would like to know what devices do you keep spares for?
  
  The list I can think of is:
  
  1. Extra return pump
  2. Extra heater (if you don't have 2)
  
  The list should not be for power failures, must be for when something critical breaks on your system and you can't get replacement for 72 hours.
• 

  Equipment List for new tank

  Posted: December 14th, 2011, 8:20pm CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  Need your input on the following:
  
  DT: 2000 x 1000 x 600 = 1100L
  Sump 1500 x 700
  Receiving Chamber: 200 x 700 x 500 = 70L
  Refugium: 300 x 700 x 450 = 94.5L
  DSB: 870 x 700 x 350 = 213.15L
  Return Chamber: 130 X 700 X 300 = 27.3
  
  System volume = 1504.95L
  
  I know this exclude LR etc etc etc.
  
  This is the initial equipment list:
  
  Reef Octo PHR-100 Phos Reactor
  Reef Octo PHR-100 Carbon Reactor
  2 x Tunze 6105
  Hailea HX-6550 Return Pump
  Tunze Auto Topup
  
  What do you think of the list?
  Would the PHR-100 work or should I get the PHR-140?
  I think the PHR would work well if I use high quality Phos and Carbon.
• 

  Reef Octopus DNW250 pumps

  Posted: December 12th, 2011, 5:54pm CST by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I have a DNW250 and need to replace the 2 pumps.
  At the moment it has 2 Resun King 3 needle wheel pumps rated at 2400L per hour.
  
  The Resuns I have uses 35w per hour, but see the newer pumps use 25w per hour.
  
  Should I stick with the resuns, or what other options do I have?
  Keep in mind that I'm trying to save electricity, but don't want to skimp on quality.
• 

  TS1 Skimmer

  Posted: December 5th, 2011, 9:28pm CST by lcornelius

  Looking for a TS1 skimmer in perfect condition CPT only.
• 

  LED Light Hood Design

  Posted: August 28th, 2011, 6:23pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I have decided on running LEDs on my new tank.
  After much reading and input from forum members, this is what I have come up with.
  
  So the hood will be 2m x 1m.
  One of the big attractions to me is having sunrise/sunset/lightning and clouds!
  
  The price of buying a unit this size is very expensive, so I did allot of reasearch and ended up with the following:
  
  Controller:
  
  Going to use 3 Typhon LED Controllers Typhon LED Controller Kit by BoostLED™
  
  These controllers can do sunrise and sunset, but it is build on a Arduino board and is programmable. I had a long chat with the owner of BoostLED and got a nice discount on the controllers, since I will be coding lightning and clouds then sharing the code as open source. I will also be building a web interface to controll multiple of these controllers. Will be a master board running slaves. I will also controll the master over WI-FI.
  
  Order placed and should recieve the controllers next week!!!! :yeahdude:
  
  Drivers:
  This was a big issue, firstly SA suppliers should be smacked for poor service delivery and pricing. I will be using Mean Well ELN-60-48P drivers, 12 of them!
  Each running 12 LEDs. Buying from US and paying half the price! Got some great service from RapidLED. If I buy in bulk I get nice discount
  
  Still need to place order.
  CPT people let me know if you are intrested in a group buy!
  
  LEDs:
  
  This was a difficult one, Cree vs. Bridgelux.
  I chated to a few guys on the net and they had great things to say about both brands. Cree = very expensive Bridgelux very affordable.
  
  I have decided on Bridgelux. Once again, buying in bulk will save you allot!
  
  Still need to order, so open for CPT group buy!
  
  Now some design pics:
  
  
  
  This is the outlay of my hood. 6 Drivers for white LEDs and 6 Drivers for the blue drivers.
  
  
  
  The above pic shows the schedules that the LEDs will use.
  Keep in mind that the white drivers will always start sunset and then followed by the blue drivers. Sunrise will be the other way around. I will have a moving moon over the 6 stages of my light hood.
  
  So what do you guys think?
• 

  900 x 900 x 600 cube for sale for sale: Cape Town, Durbanville

  Posted: August 23rd, 2011, 8:39pm CDT by lcornelius

  Full system sales or multiple items for sale.Thread title:

  900 x 900 x 600 cube for sale

  Location:

  Cape Town, Durbanville

  Shipping or Collection only:

  Collection Only

  Photo's and description/list of items for sale:

  Hi all,
  
  Moving on to my dream 2000 x 1000 tank, so need to sell my cube to fund my tank build!
  
  Display tank: 900 x 900 x 600 (water lever 510).
  Sump: 900l x 600w
  RO tank: 20L
  Lights: T5 unit 2 x white 2 x Blue and moon lights. All on separate plugs
  Stand
  Return Pump
  All plumbing
  Playsand to cover Display Tank and DSB.
  Cabinet to keep all your timers, etc.
  
  All my test kits.
  Auto Top Up unit, needs attention.
  Boyu WM3 Wave Makers and controller, needs attention.
  
  Tank in great condition, very few scratches on glass, barely noticeable.
  
  R5500
  
  Tank on stand:
  
  
  Tank with moonlights:
  
  
  Tank with blue lights:
  
  
  Tank with white lights:
  
  
  Sump and Top Up Tank:
  
  
  Cabinet for electronics:
  
  
  Take a look at my thread in my signature for pics of the tank in full swing :)

  Notes:

  -

• 

  Is LED Lighting realy cheaper?

  Posted: August 19th, 2011, 7:50pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  Am I missing something here?
  
  My light unit would be 2000 x 1000
  
  So 3 x 150w MH and 8 x 39w T5's = 762w per hour.
  
  If I go LED:
  120 x 3w White LED and 120 x 3w Blue LED = 720w per hour.
  
  According to stuff I found on the net I need 240 LED's
  12 rows of 20 LED's to cover the 2000 x 1000 area
  
  So what am I missing here?
  Is my calculation on the amount of LED's incorrect?
• 

  Lightning, yes LIGHTNING

  Posted: July 23rd, 2011, 10:04pm CDT by lcornelius

  I have seen a few guys make storms in their tank and have lightning effects.
  
  This is easy to do with bright white LED's and the effect does look great!
  
  Now the question is, how does this affect the LS in your tank?
  Does this not scare them shitless?
  
  Is there any benefit in doing this, or just another useless effect?
• 

  Denitrator / Nitrate Reducer

  Posted: July 22nd, 2011, 10:46pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I have done allot of reading on this topic, but still not convinced that this is needed at all!
  
  If you run a successful DSB with micro algea you should get the same or even better results.
  
  Please point me in the right dicection if I'm missing the point here!
  
  I'm sure it has a use, but can backfire on you in a bad way.
  So would it be worth it spending R2.5k to R3k on this?
  
  I will be running a phos and carbon reactor and maybe a Calcium reactor.
  
  You input will be greatly apreaciated.
  
  _-L-_
• 

  Holiday home for my Regal

  Posted: July 19th, 2011, 12:17pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I'm in the process of shutting down my tank. Busy planning new tank that will be up and running by December.
  
  All my fish and coral are visiting Frans in Hermanus, unfortunately his tank is too shallow to keep my Regal.
  
  Is there any CPT reefers willing to keep him for me until December?
  I really don't want to sell him, he is part of the family.
  
  Thanks
  Lean
• 

  Lighting: 2m vs 2.2m

  Posted: July 5th, 2011, 8:50pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  I'm planning my next tank.
  I'm still not convinced if I should run MH, but that is a question on it's own.
  
  What I would like to know, for T5 lighting (DIY), would a 2m or 2.2m tank be better?
  
  The tank will be either:
  
  2000l x 700w x 650h (water level) = 910L
  
  2200 x 700w x 650h (water level) = 1001L
  
  I can go wider from 700 to 800 if need be.
  
  All input apreciated!
• 

  Help needed to fix skimmer

  Posted: June 22nd, 2011, 5:20pm CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  My skimmer arrived in pieces. All the fittings connecting to the skimmer body broke off during shipping. I need to know who I can contact in regards fixing the skimmer.
  The skimmer body is in perfect condition, only the fittings to the body needs to be drilled out and replaced.
  
  Here are some pics:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Just had to add this pic, you can see the disappointment in my dogs eyes as we unpacked the skimmer :
  
  
• 

  I have had it with aiptasia

  Posted: June 5th, 2011, 11:29am CDT by lcornelius

  Hi all,
  
  Aiptasia, will be the reason that I quit this hobby!
  And I have just about had it!
  
  So going to get rid of them for good!
  I first decided to nuke them in a microwave. After some reading I realized that this would be a very very bad idea :P
  
  So here is what I'm going to do:
  
  Take all LR out of tank and place it in big container with fresh water for 2 days.
  After 2 days drain all the water and add new fresh water. Add a bit of bleach and let it soak for 2 days.
  Then drain the water again and add fresh water. Do this a couple of times.
  
  I will then reseed my LR and cycle my DT with new water.
  
  What do you think of this?